Happy New Queen!Barracuda is kicking off the new year with a brand new eight-week festival of drag. The Chelsea bar’s Dragfest 2013 starts on Monday, January 21, with weekly performances showcasing the next generation of New York drag queens. Up-and-comers like Maddox Madison, Thorgy Thor, and Sable Scities will headline along with more established queens and special guests. “This will be a fantastic opportunity to experience first hand the wide array of talented ladies that New York nightlife has to offer,” Baracuda owner Bob Pontarelli said via today’s press release.

Cooper’s Queen New YearHow does Anderson Cooper celebrate his first publicly out New Year’s Eve? Well, there’s his now annual live Times Square countdown with professional fag hag Kathy Griffin—which we imagine was infinitely more fun and infinitely cuntier now that the Coop is officially out, and not just all wink-wink-hush-hush gay. After midnight, however, our spies tell us the ol’ silver fox dashed downtown to party at boyfriend Ben Maisani’s East Village gay bar. Now that he’s left the broadcast closet behind in 2012, should we expect to see more frequent drop-ins at Eastern Bloc?

Lucky in 13Gay.net’s 2013 “13 to Watch” features some familiar queer faces. Along with Next’s Who’s Next 2013 coverboy Leif, the site spotlights New York go-go boy turned “legitimate actor” Matthew Camp for his upcoming appearance as himself in Cory Krueckeberg’s The Go Doc Project. Also on the list: Studmuffin designer Kyle Brincefield, who’s custom spiked and studded pieces are putting the metal back in downtown fashion.